The present invention relates to casket interiors and more particularly it relates to the packaging of casket interiors sold in kits.
There are advantages in mounting the decorative upholstery and lid ornamentation of a casket in a removable manner inside a casket. Such mounting offers the funeral director the options to match the colour and style of casket interiors with the gender, age or status of the deceased. In other instances, it may be desirable to match the casket interiors to the style of the casket, to the interior decoration of the funeral parlor, to the accessories set around the casket, or according to the preferences of the family of the deceased. And of course, it may be advantageous to remove the casket interiors before the interment or the incineration of the casket, to keep the interiors for reuse in low cost funerals for example.
For these reasons, many casket manufacturers have recognized the need to install casket interiors in a manner which permit easy replacement thereof by personnel of a funeral parlor. Examples of replaceable casket interiors and replaceable decorative lid liner panels are illustrated in the following documents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,109 issued on Jan. 18, 1977 to W. Matichak;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,741 issued on Nov. 9, 1982 to C. Winburn et al.;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,648 issued on Mar. 5, 1996 to I. Rojdev et al.;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,985 issued on Feb. 3, 1987 to W. K. Craft;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,768 issued on Jul. 28, 1998 to I. Rojdev;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,762 issued on Nov. 28, 2000 to G. L. Cox;
CA 683045 issued on Mar. 24, 1964 to J. L. White; and
CA 763155 issued on Jul. 18, 1967 to C. H. Ross.
Although replaceable casket interiors have been known and used in the past, it is believed that the prior art is short of suggestions with regard to the packaging of a casket interior kit as a discrete product, for shipment to a funeral director and for keeping by the funeral director as inventory for mounting into a casket shell as the need arises.
As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a casket interior kit and a package therefor in which the quality of all of the components is preserved during transport and handling thereof from the manufacturer""s facility to the purchaser""s funeral parlor.
The present invention provides for a casket interior kit in which the articles are kept firmly against each other to prevent relative movement there between, to preserved the quality of the interiors until the kit is received at destination.
Broadly, in accordance with one feature of the present invention, there is provided a casket interior kit for mounting into and decorating a casket shell. The casket interior kit comprises a casket lid liner panel, a plurality of lengths of panel edge, a liner cloth set, and a pillow. The lengths of panel edge are individually laid on the lid liner panel with the decorative surfaces thereof laid over the display surface of the lid liner panel. The liner cloth set is folded over itself and also laid over the display surface of the lid liner panel beside the lengths of panel edge. The pillow is laid over the folded liner cloth set. The casket interior kit also comprises a box having dimensions for fitly containing the casket lid liner panel, the lengths of panel edge, the liner cloth set, and the pillow therein in the arrangement described above, and in a slightly compressed mode.
The casket interior kit and the arrangement of the articles therein is advantageous for preserving the quality of the articles after final inspection and packaging by the manufacturer, and until delivery to the purchaser""s funeral parlor or warehouse.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the liner cloth set is folded over itself and tied to a stiff liner-cloth stretcher. The liner cloths are thereby kept in a pleated and wrinkle-free condition until the kit is opened at destination.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, the liner-cloth stretcher has two symmetrical segments detachably connected to each other, and each segment has means to afford a folding thereof into an alternate form usable as a corpse supporting and positioning block.
Still another feature of the casket interior kit of the present invention is that it is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to materials, equipment and labour, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low price of sale to the funeral industry.
Other advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description.